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Emerging economies are dominated by an unorganized retail landscape, with complex sociocultural norms dictating the behavior of retailers and customers. The purpose of this paper is to explore the phenomenon of consumer embarrassment in an emerging marketing, India.

This research adopts a grounded theory approach and undertakes 31 in-depth interviews with consumers in India. The data is analyzed inductively and iteratively simultaneously with data collection.

The study uncovers that sociocultural normative influences, the retail environment’s structural constraints, interaction-based buying processes and customers’ perceptions play a role in eliciting embarrassment in traditional stores. The traditional format retailers play a significant role in evoking embarrassment and, surprisingly, also in facilitating coping. Contrary to the extant findings, purchasing embarrassing products online may not ensure anonymity and elicit embarrassment. The findings contribute to understanding the phenomenon of embarrassment in emerging markets.

There is a dearth of research examining consumer embarrassment in emerging markets, with extant studies investigating the phenomenon in the modern retail setup of developed economies. The retail landscape of India is predominantly unorganized, with distinct transactional processes and physical characteristics that are starkly different from modern retail stores. Moreover, sociocultural normative forces have distinct influences on the informal setup of unorganized retail.

Menstruation is a part of the female reproductive cycle that begins with adolescence. Menstruation is a natural change; it relates to several malpractices and misconceptions that may contribute to adverse health outcomes.

The authors have searched relevant papers using Google Scholar and PubMed to write this mini review.

During menstruation, poor hygiene maintenance can cause serious illness, which includes the urinary tract and reproductive tract infection. Menstruation management is a hygienic system, and it is essential for females because poor hygiene maintenance during menstruation can cause some infections and numerous sexually transmitted diseases. There are a few nanotechnology-based products that have come into the market to offer some relief to females during their periods.

This mini review will help researchers to design innovative female hygiene products that can relieve the discomfort caused to women during their reproductive age.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the cyber hygiene practices of remote workers.

This paper used two instruments: first, the Cyber Hygiene Inventory scale, which measures users’ information and computer security behaviors; second, the Recsem Inventory, developed within this paper’s context, to evaluate the cybersecurity measures adopted by organizations for remote workers. It was conducted on remote workers to examine their information security practices. The instrument was administered to a sample of 442 employees reached via the LinkedIn platform. Analyses were performed with SPSS v26, Python programming language and Seaborn library.

The findings indicate a significant correlation between the security measures implemented by companies and their employees’ cyber hygiene practices. A sector comparison revealed a significant difference in cyber hygiene levels between public and private sector workers.

This paper aims to provide policymakers with suggestions for enhancing the cyber hygiene of remote workers to facilitate compliance with corporate security protocols.

This paper’s conclusions highlight the importance of companies increasing their cybersecurity investments as remote work becomes more prevalent. This should consider not only corporate-level factors but also employees' information and computer security behaviors.

This study aims to examine the research trends in fashion industry during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Besides, it also provides an overview on the new marketing and operational strategies, and reveals the corresponding business challenges of a footwear enterprise in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A comprehensive literature review is first conducted to identify the research trends in fashion industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative exploratory case study is then used to illustrate how a footwear enterprise has coped with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The case study has showed that omni-channel retailing, collaboration with e-tailers, quick response system and mixed production strategy are adopted in the targeted case during the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides, the targeted case has also faced the challenges in the areas of sales, customer relationship management, and demand forecasting and inventory planning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study provides managerial insights on the real practices used to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and proposes various academic future research directions in fashion industry based on the real-world observations.

This paper aims to examine why retail firms seldom achieve full integration of online and offline channels as prescribed in omni-channel literature. It examines the intermediate process of channel integration from an internal, operational perspective.

This study is composed of two parts. In the first part, the authors interviewed informants from nine firms that were engaged in channel integration. In the second part, the authors conducted case studies with three firms from the cosmetics and skincare industry against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic to find evidence to support or negate the propositions made in the first part.

The first part identified six operational challenges to channel integration. The authors categorized these challenges into two groups: inter-channel communication and inter-channel competition. Inter-channel competition carries more weight at the latter stage of integration. The authors also identified two antecedents that affect the seriousness of these challenges: heterogeneity among channels in business operation and external competitive pressure. In the second part, the authors found that both inter-channel communication and inter-channel competition were improved because of the external competitive pressure exerted by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the heterogeneity of offline channels against online channels in business operation is a double-edged sword.

The study identifies the changing effects of the challenges of channel integration and their antecedents in the midst of integration. The positive influence of a specific dimension of channel heterogeneity against other channels increases and then decreases along channel integration. The identification of the changing effects lays the foundation for a finer stage model of channel integration.

Small retail stores in the luxury market face significant challenges due to fluctuations in market demand. This task turns challenging as it requires effectively coordinating and translating customer needs into specific requirements that align with retail goals and available resources. However, limited empirical research exists investigating how managers can address service value and quality attributes in small retail stores. This article aims to bridge this gap by investigating the role of quality function deployment (QFD) in improving market and quality requirements management in small retail stores.

Based on the case study, a customer survey was initially conducted to gather information on critical characteristics valued in the luxury retail segment. QFD was used to assist the company in identifying and prioritizing key quality attributes to meet customer requirements effectively.

The findings demonstrate that implementing QFD in small luxury retail stores empowers managers to identify previously neglected product and service quality aspects. The article shows that QFD informs organizational adaptations that align with the demands of the retail market, leading to an improved ability to meet customer expectations and enhance customer value through the development of enhanced products and services. The study showcases the efficacy of the tested methodology in effectively capturing and prioritizing both tangible and intangible customer needs in retail.

Findings offer valuable insights to retail managers of small luxury stores, providing actionable market-oriented strategies. By implementing the recommended practices, managers can improve the store’s competitiveness and better cater to the customer base.

This study contributes to bridging persistent knowledge gaps by addressing the unique context of small luxury retail stores and introducing the application of QFD in this setting. The insights gained from this research are relevant to both retailing and quality management literature. Considering the growing prevalence of transformations in the retail industry, the study provides practical implications for retail managers in effectively navigating these changes.

This study aims to improve the use of digitalization in facilities management (FM) for shopping complex facilities in the post-COVID-19 era. The resumption of economic activities, especially in shopping complexes, poses challenges for FM with throngs of shoppers. To tackle these challenges, enhanced and innovative FM practices are necessary.

The study used a qualitative research approach, incorporating case studies, interviews, observations and documentation. It focused on super-regional shopping complexes in the Klang Valley, Malaysia, selecting two complexes for qualitative data collection. Supplementary data were gathered from various sources, including government policy publications, websites, books, journal papers and archival records.

The research provides valuable insights into FM innovations and the application of FM digitalization in shopping complexes after the COVID-19 pandemic. It also addresses challenges faced by FM teams during this period. Recommendations for implementing FM digitalization in super-regional shopping complexes post-COVID-19 include developing skilled personnel, defining appropriate work scopes, strategies and policies, using cost-effective software, and increasing occupant awareness. The involvement of outsourced service providers is advised, emphasizing their understanding of the organization’s business model and innovative approaches.

The findings offer new perspectives on the characteristics of FM digitalization in the commercial sector during business disruptions caused by the pandemic. The proposed strategies are grounded in real industry implementations, aiming to enhance the FM digitalization approach for improved business performance.

Based on the Stimulus-Organism-Response Model, this study aims to investigate how the intention of Chinese guests to revisit a hotel (response) is triggered by the quality of the hotel’s hygiene protocols (stimulus) during the pandemic. Brand image, perceived guest satisfaction and perceived customer trust were examined as the organism factors in this model.

The quantitative method was adopted to collect data via a structured online survey of 385 Chinese hotel guests. Their responses were analyzed using SPSS (v.26) and SmartPLS (3.3.2) software.

The quality of hotel hygiene protocols was found to have a significant impact on hotel brand image, perceived guest satisfaction and perceived guest trust. Hotel brand image, perceived guest satisfaction and perceived guest trust, in turn, demonstrated significant relationships with guests’ revisit intention.

Theoretically, the present study offers a framework to understand the impact of hotel hygiene protocols on guest revisit intention. Practically, the findings of the study encourage industry practitioners to implement proper safety protocols and standard operating procedures related to COVID-19.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, hotel hygiene standards have become a key concern for guests. The current study provides important and meaningful insights into whether and how hotel hygiene quality promotes guest revisit intention.

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of perceived risk (perceived susceptibility and perceived severity), self-efficacy and individual differences (personal innovativeness and mobile payment knowledge) on consumers’ intention to use contactless mobile payment services (MPS). Additionally, it also empirically tested the moderating effect of hygiene consciousness in the proposed conceptual model.

The present research developed a conceptual model based on the health belief model (HBM) and diffusion of innovation theory (DOI) to empirically assess whether and how perceived risk, self-efficacy and individual differences influence consumer intention to use contactless MPS. The data was collected using the survey method from 251 smartphone users and analyzed with structural equation modeling. The moderating role of hygiene consciousness was studied in the relationship that self-efficacy and personal innovativeness shares with consumers’ intention toward contactless MPS.

The results of this study disclose that among all precursors of consumers’ intention toward contactless MPS, only perceived severity, self-efficacy, personal innovativeness and mobile payment knowledge positively affect consumers’ intention to use contactless MPS. However, the effect of perceived susceptibility on consumers’ intention toward contactless MPS was found to be non-significant. The results further depict that hygiene consciousness acts as a moderator in driving consumers’ intention toward contactless mobile payment services.

The HBM model and DOI, which incorporate perceived risk, self-efficacy, individual differences and hygiene consciousness, give light on the factors influencing consumer intention to use contactless MPS in a pandemic situation such as COVID-19. The study will provide useful insights to marketers on how to frame their strategies in the aftermath of pandemics, as the contactless mobile payment method may be perceived as a defensive behavior during and after pandemics.

The study will provide useful insights to marketers on how to frame their strategies in the aftermath of pandemics, as the contactless mobile payment method may be perceived as a defensive behavior during and after pandemics.

By uniting perceived risk, self-efficacy and individual differences with consumers’ intention toward contactless MPS in a conceptual model, along with examining the moderating role of hygiene consciousness, this work responds to the calls for upcoming research concerning mobile payment systems as means of future payment. Thus, it offers an understanding of particular consumer motivations that may guide consumers’ intention toward contactless MPS through the theoretical lens of HBM and DOI.

Discount grocery stores (DGSs) are attractive food supply chain (FSC) channels because many cost-conscious Indians use them for monthly needs. Despite capacity, DGSs must address customer concerns about store crowd densities and improve their COVID-19 preparedness. The purpose of this study is to learn how retail operations strategies can improve customer experience and how stores can benefit.

The study looked at a case study where retail operations are run more efficiently, and the customer experience is enhanced by standardizing and customizing customer transactions. The potential benefits that customers and retailers might anticipate are then statistically verified. Next, the potential benefits were examined to determine which ones from customers’ and retailers’ views should be prioritized to increase satisfaction.

The case situation analysis in the study demonstrates how DGSs can improve their retail operations to reduce customer wait times and provide greater convenience. The study also provides practitioners with potential benefits to pursue from the perspectives of retailers, customers and both retailers and customers.

This study requires many past transactions and can be considered an extension of the current study, so it does not capture floor space and capacity improvements.

This research can help FSC retailers compete with upstream supply chain partners and customers in omnichannel retailing. By improving DGS retailer capacity and customer experience, this study can benefit all FSC stakeholders.

Although there are numerous potential benefits that practitioners can pursue, the current study suggests that practitioners focus on those that can improve retailer and customer satisfaction.